4 Color Process Start to finish

Hey Everyone,

I've been scouring the forums for a full description of doing 4 color process printing on paper and have only been able to find bits and pieces. I've been working on doing some photo prints for a while and I've got the basic structure down, but have tried various conflicting techniques (different screen angles, color order, etc) with varying levels of success but still feel like I could get much better results.

If anyone can give me a full run through of the process they use in doing this kind of work that would be an amazing help. Screen angles for bitmap conversions, color order, ink transparency (i'm using water based inks), any info you can give would be amazing!

If this info already exists on here and anyone can post links that would be amazing!

I'm pretty sure there's some kind of tutorial thing that seripop posted in the premium section...at least I seem to remember a post with some good information, but I don't want to dig around for it right now. It's got angles and LPI/mesh count ratios and information that works as a good start...though I'd recommend just really spending a ton of time messing around and really figuring out how all of that stuff works. Depending on your setup, you're going to find different halftone settings will be better or worse for your situation, even if the math on that stuff seems to add up. Unless you're working with a super pro setup, it's going to take a while to dial that stuff in regardless of any advice you get on here.

I will say though, that we always print yellow, magenta, cyan, black, and we're constantly messing with our ink-to-base ratio...every time we start a CMYK print, the color feels off unless we make some adjustments along the way. If you're using Speedball, expect to base that isht down a LOT. We usually start with 50/50 and then season to taste, but I guess it really depends on what you're going for.

How's that for offering pretty much none of the advice or help you're looking for? Sorry...

(that said, I'm sure there's a few folks on here who have the whole thing pinned down and could give you specifics...I bet that exists, but odds are good you'll end up taking whatever advice they have and bending it to make sense with your setup. Or at least, you should.)

This might help a bit, but it is only the last of a 4 part article. Learn to print a sharp moire free image using black first. Once you can do that (correct film, line screen, angles, exposure resolution, squeegee etc) then get some process colour inks and try it - it's mostly register and adjusting colour density with base after you get the fine detail printing part down.